Building Coyote Canyon | Thunder Mesa Reimagined

It's time to build some new scenery for the Thunder Mesa layout! Picking up where we left off last time, I build the rocky scenery for Coyote Canyon out of polystyrene insulation foam (XPF), using techniques honed on the Bandit canyon and Gruesome Gulch projects. I go step by step, showing how the layers of foam are carved, shaped, blended, and painted. Join me for this FIRST piece of new scenery on the reimagined Thunder Mesa layout!
Thanks for watching, amigos!
Dave
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"Take Your Time" by Dan Lebowitz - KZbin Audio Library
"Juneberry Junction" by Chris Haugen - KZbin Audio Library

[@thezzach]

I kept thinking, “No! It looks great already. Do NOT add another coat!” But with new layer better, you made it even better. Wow! Just brilliant. 🙌 I wish i could come see all your work in person.

[@spaguettoltd.7933]

I took quite a few geology classes in college, and I want you to know that your rock work is second to none. Everybody else tries to pass off fake-looking rocks, even some of the hyper-realistic modelers. Thank you so much for you pioneering method and commitment to detail!

[@ThunderMesaStudio]

Thank you very much!

[@JackOnTracks]

Always amazed by how you get the scenery to flow so seamlessly

[@scottfrey2710]

Even after watching you make that canyon step by step, when I see the finished product, I keep thinking... " How did he make that so realistic?! " :-) Nice job!! Thanks!

[@wolfgangpfeilergartenbahnd6530]

It's always impressive to watch you at work. Even when my train is running in the garden, the videos are always inspiring. Thanks for showing them and have a nice weekend.

[@dff19707]

Lightweight spackling can go on much thicker than joint compound. Pretty sure this is what Woodland Scenics repackages as Foam Putty.

[@travisjodyh.842]

Beautiful work Dave, love the results.

[@davevan8864]

Came out GREAT!!! Some of your best work yet.....thx

[@Joker96624]

It’s great to see you moving forward with TM! You could put a couple freight/passenger cars or an engine at the bottom of the canyon, like they fell off the edge of those buffers at the top. Maybe there could be a devious reason why they fell into the canyon, or just a clueless yard operator.

[@George-tz1cv]

Desert environments are soooo much easier; lots of flat topped rises, plenty of dirt/ sand / rocks, very little greenery and trees. Making Cacti are the hard part. Very nice backdrop by the way.

[@ThunderMesaStudio]

Not easier at all, just different. Deserts are incredibly diverse and require just as much research and skill as anything else to model realistically.

[@scotabot7826]

Great technique!!!!

[@rickdee67]

I never tire of getting to look over your shoulder while you sculpt. Thanks so much for sharing your talent and vision! And XPF is the best thing to ever happen to scenery! Oh and I love that creek canyon!

[@ponderingpops]

Wow! Stunning scenery as usual. Love your techniques and that southwest desert setting!

[@snchilders]

I don't live near the SW, but I watch Desert Drifter on you tube and I'm stunned by how realistic your new canyon looks. Good work, Dave, I'm looking forward to the bridge construction.

[@anklebiterwoodworks2818]

I just found your channel. Subscribed. Brings back memories of when my age was still in single digits (43 now) and my paternal grandfather build his 4x8 HO scale layout in his den after grandma passed when I was 2. I still have the Polaroid of him sitting at the controls in the fake wool single seat chair that would spin all the way around (ask me how i know...;) )when whoever had taken the picture, not even Dad remembers who took the picture, but, Grandpa had that look of just getting surprised and asked for a pic of his newly completed layout and managed to compose himself and had that head tilt and grin, right shoulder sort of lower than the left as the pic was from the left, Grandpa wearing the stereotypical dull tan baseball cap and some form of plaid dress shirt looking at the camera as if to say: yeah: I did that! I remember how proud he was (I think I was maybe 4) when he was explaining how the telephone pole wires were actually the wires that powered the lights in the building and how he kitbashed 2 kits for the cannery on his lake. Was heartbroken when we all moved in together where my folks still live today and grandpa sold the train-set for lack of space in the garage. What shocked me the most was just how unbothered he was about it. When I was in my early teens, I managed to save some money and got some books from the library (early 90s) and built my own 4x8 layout and showed Grandpa the crumpled cardboard and joint compound slathered paper towel technique for making mountains instead of chicken-wire/screen and "PermaScene" whatever that stuff was (looked like big sand particles that you got wet and it stuck to the wire). Actually said that what I had learned in the book from the library was way better, cheaper, lighter and wished he had known about it. Seeing what is available today--the rigid foam panels and such--almost makes me want to get back into it.

[@nickrails]

Inspirational stuff! Not just the modelling, but the way you go for it. I'm in the UK and I've been carving Millstone Grit rock faces out of Celotex (not dissimilar to the foam you're using) - and even though my sections of rock face are no more than 2ft long at any one place I agonised over it for 4 month....and threw away 4 or 5 versions of my carving! Seeing your previous work inspired me to model rock scenery with extruded foam, which isnt really used in British railway modelling.

[@ToyManTelevision]

This is looking so nice. Hard to say what the best section of the layout is. The mountain? This canyon? Who can say? But I love it all. I’ve decided to reshape a section of the cliff above Gardner Brothers Mill. Your scenery looks so beautiful. Inspiring. Crappy artists barrow from each other. Great artists steal. I’m stealing your best ideas. As always. 😊.

[@ThunderMesaStudio]

Steal away!

[@SteveLee-iw6wz]

John Allen would be proud.

[@lynnmccurdythehdmmrc2561]

Thanks for taking us along on this build.

[@bigwoz78]

Looks incredible, great work Dave Thanks for the lessons

[@davidnirtaut40]

Fantastic! Cannot wait till you start on the metal bridge.

[@bradcraig6676]

I use a lot of joint compound too, when weight is not a factor. It can be stippled into many useful textures, and I've never noticed it shrinking before. I've used it for sand dunes, stucco, concrete, mortar, and forest ground base. Much stronger than spackle. Stuff is heavy, though.

[@pmsteamrailroading]

Look into the products from micro engineering. They make bridge parts that can replicate just the kind of bridge you want.

[@andyellis4594]

I am one of those people that you have inspired to return to the hobby. I started in HO in 1964, eventually moved to HOn3, Sn3 and then to On3. Some twenty years ago life moved modeling aside and I was pretty inactive. Narrow gauge trains were never far away because I live in front of the Hermosa yard north of Durango. One evening one of your videos randomly showed up in my KZbin feed and I was mesmerized. The only way I can describe my time away from the hobby is like going to prison and coming back twenty years later and everything is different. So many new things and techniques have my head spinning. I’m now in the process of remodeling my garage and making some space for a layout upstairs. I hope to be laying track on my 71st birthday in November. Thanks again and I hope to stop in at one of your open days later this year while we are visiting an old friend in Prescott Valley.

[@ThunderMesaStudio]

Thank you. Welcome back!

[@schadowolf]

Great video and looking forward to following the rest of the series!

[@jetegtmeier71]

Very nice way to create scenery, most impressive. Thanks for sharing :)

[@JadaFinistair]

AWESOME! I can't wait to see the next instalment. Great job!

[@RobBean-wf9ie]

Thanks Dave, that was amazing to watch…. To see the bench work disappear behind that amazing scenery. Thank you, for sharing your techniques with the rest of us….

[@markswiatly9613]

I really love the work you do. I've spent a lot of time exploring out west when I was younger and your layout work looks so realistic. I love how it makes me feel that I'm right there.

[@ThunderMesaStudio]

Thank you so much

[@carlosg1165]

❤❤❤❤❤❤beautiful and awesome looking canyon keep them coming Dave. 😊😊😊😊😊

[@allenlandis4504]

Another great show. I'm learning a lot watching you, Thanks for sharing this Dave.

[@joelsalmons5627]

New build fantastic! Thanks for sharing Dave.

[@MrFunnyDad2024]

Great work there and some great tutorials how to develop the topo.

[@gmmeier321]

Cool, we just rode the loop RR and went over that bridge last month!!

[@BattleshipOrion]

OMG You actually did rock layering! Most layouts I've seen dont even have that! I'm gonna have to note that for my On3 railroad because the end result is cool!

[@how_to_hallagon1]

We all enjoyed the video. Question is, did your wife also enjoy the video. You know the audience does

[@ThunderMesaStudio]

She’s not really the target audience! 😂

[@sammisworkshops3762]

Another awesome scenery video, Love the drywall compound, I have thought of it and was concerned over shrinkage too. nice to see it in action. Thanks so much for these great build videos!

[@ThunderMesaStudio]

Thank you Sammi!

[@cerisekappes580]

Love watching the layout expand 😊😊😊

[@ChrisK-LTC]

That looks great!

[@ronberlier6695]

Amazing construction techniques with common foam insulation. You know your natural topography quite well and recreate it quite nicely. How long has it taken you to create the layout as it is today. TIA

[@BlackRRRhino]

Spectacular! Really looking forward to seeing you build the bridge!

[@folkertvanwijk5168]

Thanks for the incredible video! Just what I needed as inspiration for my own foam landscape. Although my layout is N-scale Swiss, your video makes me wanna start landscaping now!

[@ThunderMesaStudio]

Thank you!

[@charlesheinlein1923]

Nice job Beautiful scenery blended together

[@loispadgett6306]

That canyon turned out great. You are the master at it. You create so much story as you go it just makes it come alive. Can't wait for the next show and story of this build. GOD BLESS ,🚂 ❤ 🚂 ❤ 🚂 ❤

[@TexasRailfan21-RailfanRyan]

I wonder if Coyote Canyon would be a great place to relocate Coyote Rock that’s just my suggestion

[@ThunderMesaStudio]

It could happen!

[@theragingdolphinsmaniac4696]

Dave what is your band saw and where did you get it? It’s the perfect size for hobby work

[@ThunderMesaStudio]

It's from Micro Mark

[@FunAtDisney]

I was looking at the cost of that pink foam on Home Depot - Wow it’s expensive for the higher R rating, but I assume you get the R-3 sheets (unless you want your layout to be well insulated! 😊)

[@ThunderMesaStudio]

I get the cheapest ones

[@bobbybaldeagle702]

Is there a reason why you brush on your base coat versus air brushing it???

[@ThunderMesaStudio]

Yes. I hate cleaning airbrushes. Also, I get better coverage with a brush.

[@philipsimonds8088]

I am just wondering as I’m relatively new to making a layout. Just started my first a while back ago. I did all my scenery in kind of a (lack of better words) wire mesh and plaster cloth method with sculpt a mold and cast plaster rocks. So far it’s coming out well. What is the benefit of doing the scenery in this layered foam method? It looks amazing for sure, but seems all that foam would become costly.

[@ThunderMesaStudio]

There are a couple of benefits. One is that foam scenery is MUCH lighter than plaster and mesh, and that is an important consideration since the layout must be moveable. Another benefit, and more important for me personally, is that the layered foam technique is the best way I have found to model southwestern canyon country scenery. Plaster cloth and rock molds are great for general mountain terrain, but they are not the best for this specific type of geology in my experience.

[@KaleH_Projects]

Which track do you use? I’m having a hard time finding on30 track curves/ straights!

[@ThunderMesaStudio]

I use Peco On30 flextrack and turnouts

[@bobainsworth5057]

Where did you get the heat gun?

[@ThunderMesaStudio]

It's available from Amazon a.co/d/0gOXogLN

[@bobainsworth5057]

Thank you so much. Last one I bought at Harbor Freight set off fire alarms just turning it on.🥴​@@ThunderMesaStudio